Trapped within Time
by wallACEwho
Summary: Life as a memeber of Torchwood 4 can be boring at the best of times. So what happens when three of its members become trapped in their headquarters.


Authors Note: I own nothing. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

**Trapped in Time **

Life in Torchwood 4 could be interesting. Mostly it was just floating round the time stream. Occasionally they popped out into some event or other and recently they had designed a way to pull themselves out of time though only for a short period of time.

Recently they had one of their more random landings and were currently on some unpronounceable alien planet where it was apparently quiet common for buildings to appear out of nowhere.

Most of the team (Selina Sanders their archivist, Megan Richards their doctor, Jerry Ashton their weapons expert and Valerie Bennet their support officer) were already out exploring leaving their co-leaders Xandria Pryor and Wallace Dalton to join them. Their science advisor Kyle Hardy was staying behind to catch up on some work"

Kyle looked up from his desk as he heard the office door open and quickly hurried down to the archives wishing to avoid the inevitable

"**HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT WOULD DO THAT" **Xandria said

"**WELL WHEN IT STARTED TO GLOW I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE GOT A CLUE**." Wallace countered

"**FOR ALL I KNEW IT WAS MENT TO DO THAT"**

"**ANY IDIOT SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HELMIC REGULATOR AND A COASTER"**

"**SO I'M AN IDIOT NOW AM I"**

**"IF THE SHOE FITS"**

Xandria and Wallace came down the stairs in heated 'discussion'. Kyle anxious not to get caught in the crossfire ducked even further into the archives. Wallace picked up a cup of coffee substitute before wandering over to Kyle's still active computer.

Xandria put her (empty) coffee cup on the sideboard before looking for their absent scientist "Kyle" she yelled "you here". She turned to Wallace "anything on his computer"

Wallace turned "pardon"

Xandria walked across and leant over his shoulder accidentally jogging his arm

"Hey" he said as coffee cascaded out of his mug and onto the computer causing sparks to fly up. Suddenly alarms began blaring throughout the base and shutters began closing over the windows and doors.

The pair turned and looked at each other "**Ooops**"

A few minutes later the pair could be found scrabbling around the base pressing every button and flicking every switch attempting to correct their massive mistake.

Kyle chose that moment to return from the archives "hey guys" he said surveying the shutters "what's happened". Xandria and Wallace leapt up

"Well you see"

"We were"

"And we couldn't find"

"I was looking at"

"I thought that"

"Jogged my arm"

"Complete accident

"Coffee everywhere".

Kyle rushed over to his computer and starting to tap at the keys. "You've set off the security failsafe" he said eventually "the base is completely locked down for the foreseeable future"

"It was her fault"

"It was his fault"

Kyle watched the two of them engage in a game of verbal tennis for a few minutes before getting fed up "Excuse me. We're going to be stuck here for quite some time so can we calm down before something worse happens"

Just then the lights went out.

"Something like that you mean" Wallace quipped

A few seconds later the lights came back on and Kyle went back to his computer. The key tapping continued for quiet a few minutes before he finally surfaced "Its just got worse"

"How much worse?"

"Well when my computer got drenched you not only activated the fail-safe you also knocked down the firewall. Now we have a alien virus creeping around the system and I have no idea what it's going to do"

"It was his fault"

"It was her fault"

The verbal banter continued for several minutes before Kyle was able to get a word in

"Well you two have fun up here. I'm going to go down to the mainframe and see if I can fix the damage". He then departed not entirely sure if either of his colleagues had heard him.

A few minutes later Wallace looked around "Where's Kyle gone"

Xandria spotted a note on his computer screen and reached over to get it.

_Guys_

_I'm down in the mainframe seeing if I can fix the damage. I'll pop up later to see how you are coping. Till then entertain yourselves._

_K._

"I'll make the coffee shall I" said Wallace

A few minutes later he returned. "So what shall we do?"

From the comfort of the mainframe Kyle surveyed the scene through the bases internal CCTV. From what he could tell they were seated in the office attempting to catch up on paperwork. "That won't do at all" he muttered before tapping at his laptop for a few minutes….

Up in the office Xandria looked up as a light began to flicker *Is it meant to do that"

"Wallace looked at it "In a word. No"

"What do we do"

"Well normally I'd get Kyle to have a look but he's not here. We're going to have to leave the office though"

"Well I've practically finished my paperwork. You?"

"Just about"

"So what shall we do"

"Wait here" and he strode out of the office. Looking out the door Xandria saw him rooting around in Valerie's station. He returned a few moments later bearing a DVD.

"How about we watch this"

Xandria took the DVD and studied the case for a few minutes before breaking into a smile "Brilliant" she said "You go and put the DVD in, while I make the hot chocolate."

"Extra marshmallows?"

"Of course"

A couple of minutes later the pair could be found on the sofa's in the rec room each clutching a cup of hot chocolate as Love Actually started up on the plasma screen.

"I love this film" Xandria said as she stirred her chocolate "Haven't seen it in a while though"

"I prefer Notting Hill really" Wallace replied "but this isn't bad"

They lapsed into silence punctuated every few minutes by laughter or the sound of slurping chocolate. About half way into the film Wallace headed into the kitchen and raided the secret supply of popcorn.

"So" Wallace said as the credits rolled "what do you think the others are up too"

"Their either sill out at the market or outside the base trying to work out what has happened"

"What do we tell them"

"That you spilled coffee"

"It was your fault

"I don't think so"

"I think you will find it was"

Before things got any further Kyle reappeared "hey" he said flopping into an easy chair "you had anything to eat"

The two looked up and realised that they hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime.

The three walked into the kitchen and started to look through the cupboards pulling out ingredients as they went. Originally they had gone the Torchwood 3 route living off Pizzas and take out until Valerie had suggested they try something a bit healthier and they had stated to cook their own meals (secretly they thought it was because Valerie was tired of picking up Pizza boxes and left over Chinese) .

"What about this" Kyle said pulling some steaks out of the fridge "this with some chips and maybe some peas".

The other two nodded and began rooting around in cupboards and preparing ingredients, Soon there was the sound of frying and a general cooking smell permeated the base.

Half an hour later the three sat down at the kitchen table and over the meal reminisced about past adventures.

"Do you remember the time the base landed and I stuck my head only to come face to face with a Viking" Kyle chuckled

The other two laughed "you made a noise like some sort of mouse on helium and ducked back inside" Wallace chortled,

"And then they started to bang on the door demanding to know if we were from Asgard" added Xandria

"We just managed to get out of there before the axe came through the door"

After they had finished Kyle and Xandria washed up while Wallace retired to the office. Leaving the main lights off he switched on the desk light and picked up his book. He then walked over to the CD player and put on Scouting for Girls before settling down with his book.

Half an hour passed before Xandria poked her head round the door. Wallace quickly used the remote to switch off the CD and put down the book "washing up done"

She nodded "What you reading" he passed her the book and she looked at the cover.

"Pride and Prejudice" she said "You read Austin".

"I'm trying to" he replied taking the book back

She reached over the desk and picked up the CD remote "and what were you listening too". She flicked the on button and The Airplane Song came on "you like Scouting for Girls" she said her face the picture of puzzlement "I wouldn't have thought that was your type of music"

"Well it is" he quipped "Is there a reason you came up here"

"Not particularly" she replied sitting down in her office chair "just wanted to see what you were up to, this lockdown has us all on edge"

"I suppose" Wallace acknowledged "Kyle will figure something out though"

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Xandria finished her paperwork and Wallace continued with his book. Suddenly Heartbeat came up on the CD. Wallace immediately looked up before switching off the CD.

"Something wrong" Xandria said

"Its fine" Wallace replied "I'll be in the rec room" and with that he left the office.

A few minutes later Xandria went looking for him eventually finding him sitting in the archives.

"You miss them don't you? Your family I mean"

"A bit. What about you"

"Sometimes. But when I think about all the things I've done and seen"

"You wouldn't trade it for the world"

She nodded before heading towards the rec room "come on I have an idea"

A few minutes he entered the rec room to find that Xandria had dragged out the dance mat.

"Where's Kyle" he asked

"Back down in the mainframe. He nearly has this lockdown cracked"

She then turned on the TV and activated the dance mat. The first thing to come up was Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Xandria leapt on to the mat and followed the arrows eventually achieving a fairly respectable score.

The next song to come up was She's So Lovely by Scouting for Girls. "Go on" Xandria said "have a go". Wallace cocked an eyebrow "go on" she said "I'll pull out the puppy dog eyes"

Wallace cracked "that's cheating" he whined "you know I can't resist those"

He stepped on the mat and followed the instructions as they flashed across the screen. The moves got faster as the song went on until eventually it ended and Wallace collapsed on the sofa exhausted. "How'd I do" he said.

Xandria looked at the screen "You did great" she said "but not well enough to beat me".

Wallace frowned "you have more experience than me though"

"Still won"

Wallace conceded. At that moment Kyle re-entered the room. The pair looked up at him.

"Any luck" they both asked

"Almost" he replied "The lockdown should be down in about half an hour. Any idea what we should till then"

Xandria grinned "How about you have a go on this" she said gesturing to the dance mat

"Umm" Kyle said "I really should go and check the….. compression manifolds. Yeah the compression manifolds"

He turned and made to bolt back to the lab only to find Wallace blocking the door.

"Sorry my friend but I had to have a go. I don't see why you should get off so easily. Besides you checked the compression manifolds earlier."

Kyle looked round at Xandria but she just shook her head and pointed at the mat

"Come on. Its fun"

Kyle looked downcast "Fine" he said "what song"

Xandria looked through the various songs on offer before selecting (I wish I was) James Bond by Scouting for Girls. "Let's see if you can do any better than me"

Kyle looked over at the door once more to see Wallace shaking his head. Stepping onto the mat hesitantly following the arrows as they moved across the screen gradually moving faster and faster until the song ended.

Wallace looked at the screen. "Well done" he said "you beat Xandria".

Kyle smiled. "That must be a first".

Xandria scowled "It is and I'm not happy about it"

Wallace looked at the clock. "We still have about 20 minutes till the lockdown stops. What should we do till then."

Xandria reached into a cupboard just behind them and pulled out a red box, "How about this" she said "Monopoly"

Several minutes later the three of them could be found sitting round a table, orange juice and crisps close to hand and the monopoly board set out in the middle. Xandria was using the iron, Wallace the battleship and Kyle the top hat.

"Ha" Xandria said as Wallace blunded into jail again "that's what the fifth time". She then surveyed the board before turning to Kyle. "You owe me £150. That is if you want to remain in my hotel.

Kyle grimaced before handing over a wedge of notes. "You know if we ever get back home you should go into Business. You'd make an absolute fortune."

"I should shouldn't I" she said as she collected another £200. "Wonder if I could do that and work at Torchwood"

Just then Wallace moved out of jail and noticed where Xandria was currently sitting

"That will be £200 please" he said with a smirk.

By the time the game had finished the lockdown had stopped. The three blinked as the light flooded the previously dark headquarters.

"Should we call the others" Kyle said

"No" replied Xandria "They'll be back in time. Let's watch another film"

When the others did return several hours later they found Xandria Kyle and Wallace fast asleep in the rec room as the Notting Hill credits rolled across the screen.

Please Review. It helps me improve.


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